Kokiri Tales
by Forest Girl Kaz
Summary: Eternal children destined to forever live in the safety of the forest. What exactly do the Kokiri do to keep themselves entertained?
1. Ignorant Bliss

A/N: So this is going to be a series of one-shots about the Kokiri basically, some will be longer than others, some will have Link in, some may not, you get the idea.

Disclaimer: Zelda equals not mine.

* * *

Angry storm clouds billowed over the raging land of Hyrule as a bitter wind whistled through the trees of the mysterious Kokiri Forest. The whole kingdom was in the midst of a great war, the only race not involved in the battle were the children of the forest: the Kokiri. These peaceful elves were unaware of the harsh reality going on in the outside world; under the protection of the Great Deku Tree they lived happily together in their village nestled amongst the trees. 

A group of three girls slowly made their way out of a small tree stump house. The one in front was slightly taller than the two behind, she wore the traditional female Kokiri tunic, brown boots and matching belt. Bowing her head and folding her arms, she fought against the wind as it blew her blonde bunches in all directions. Fado was a pleasant fun-loving pretty girl, although sometimes she could be a bit of a gossip.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Fado?" Fala, one of the twins shouted at her back. Both twins also wore the standard Kokiri tunic and were totally identical in appearance with their strawberry-blonde shoulder length hair and curious blue eyes. Those who knew them better though could easily tell them apart by their different personalities. Fala was the level-headed sensible one who enjoyed spending time chatting with her friends, relaxing in their tiny house and living a generally quiet life. On the other hand, Rela, her sister was more of a prankster, she loved playing jokes on the other children and exploring as far as she dared around the forest. Overall, the twins were good friends to have, each of their personalities bounced off the other making them an interesting duo.

"It's just a mild breeze!" Fado yelled as she covered her sapphire eyes to block flying leaves smacking her face. "Besides, seeing Mido make a fool of himself telling stories is always funny."

"Hehe, yeah, last time Mido was a riot." Rela giggled at the memories of Mido's awful storytelling. "Let's call in on Saria to see if she wants to come, she always tells the best stories."

Agreeing, the trio ducked behind Saria's house in a failed attempt to avoid the wind. Edging their way along the back wall of the house, they cautiously poked their heads around the side to check for any loose logs that could crash into them. Scurrying over to the front door, they pushed aside the curtain Saria had put up to prevent strong gusts entering her house.

Inside was pitch black, none of them could see a single thing.

"Is she in?" Fala whispered whilst holding her hair in place.

"Saria, are you home?" Fado asked the silent room, there was no reply.

"What are you doing?" A voice questioned behind them.

"We're looking for- Oh, Saria!" Rela nearly jumped out of her tunic when she saw the green-haired girl, an amused smile on her face.

"For me?" Saria finished her sentence, pushing past the girls, she strolled into her house carrying a basket of fruit. Unlike the other girls, Saria wore slightly different clothing, a dark green long-sleeved turtleneck under a lighter green sleeveless top along with green shorts, boots and belt, her whole image radiated the colour green, apart from her deep blue eyes. Everyone in the village liked her, it was difficult not to, she had a kind, welcoming aura surrounding her always willing to help anyone in need. Not only that, but she was also one of the bravest Kokiri, however, unlike some of the boys, she didn't like to show off. It was true that most of the children were friendly with Saria, although some of the girls became jealous of the obvious attention she received and ignored from a few of the boys, even with all that, they'd sometimes see her sitting on top of her house staring into the sky with a lost look on her face like a part of her was missing, a part that no Kokiri had managed to fill yet, not even Mido who would never give up trying to earn her complete trust.

"Will you come to the story night?" Fado asked as the three girls entered the house after Saria. Each week, the Kokiri held a story night where they took turns to tell different stories to a group of whoever wanted to go. Tonight's theme would be scary stories hosted in the Know-It-All Brothers' house.

"Sure, listening to Mido self-inserting himself as the hero in everything is always an evening well spent." Saria grinned. Placing the basket on the table, a light blue orb with wings fluttered out of the fruit, setting himself on the table, he yawned.

"We went through that wind to get this stuff, I want some before we go." Nori, Saria's fairy insisted, his blue glow creating the only light in the room, since they would be leaving soon there was no point lighting anything else.

"Fine, only a few." Saria mumbled taking out a handful of purple berries, putting them on the table she watched her fairy pick one up to munch on. The others' fairies who had been hiding until then, quickly joined Nori for the mini feast.

* * *

A small group of Kokiri gathered in the Know-It-All Brothers' house that night. The room was lit with a magically powered lantern that the Deku Tree had given them, all the tables and chairs had been moved to the side so the centre of the room was clear. 

Waiting by the door, the youngest of the brothers, Remo, or Rem as he liked to be called greeted the girls as they arrived.

Timo, the eldest, sat lazily leaning his elbow on the back table waiting impatiently for the group to hurry up and get inside.

Somo, the middle brother busied himself by laying out deku nut and seed snacks on the tables.

All three brothers wore the usual male Kokiri tunic, green boots and green caps. Each had thick bushy orange hair that totally covered their eyes making many of the children wonder how they could see a thing. They were highly respected throughout the village, especially Timo, who would often challenge the authority of Mido making him the Kokiri leader's biggest rival.

"Hurry up, I'm freezing my butt off out here!" Mido, the self-proclaimed leader of the village shouted from outside the house. Most of the Kokiri didn't like Mido that much, he was bossy, arrogant, self obsessed, the list of negatives could easily go on. However, underneath all of that, he did have a softer side, usually only shown to impress Saria which never seemed to work for him. He was also one of the bravest Kokiri, a strong sign of an 'alpha male' even if it was overshadowed by his shallow personality.

"Impatient as ever aren't you Mido." Saria came up by the side of him as they waited to go in.

"S-Saria." Mido stammered, running a hand through his messy red hair, he looked down at the grassy floor. If Saria had been male, she would have been the freckle-faced boy's strongest rival by far, many Kokiri referred to her as an unofficial leader when they thought he wasn't listening. If it had been anyone else, he would've pounded their face in by now to prove his strength, but Saria was too nice to ever act on anything said in the village and, her being a girl meant Mido wouldn't dare use brute force if she had challenged him. It was plain to everyone that he had a serious crush on her, the number of times he'd tried to impress her were countless.

When they were all finally inside, Timo stood to begin the evening. Before he could get a word out, Mido shoved him harshly out of the way.

"I'm the boss so I'll be going first, any objections?" His beady blue eyes leered at the others who remained perfectly still, arguing with Mido was like arguing with a tree. "Right, so there was this handsome leader guy…"

Ten minutes later

"Then out of nowhere this giant blue blob appeared!"

"Let me guess, it had teeth just like the deku scrub, octorok and talking blade of grass." Rem rolled his eyes causing Fala to giggle while Somo appeared to be half asleep.

"This story isn't even scary." Rela shook Somo who was next to her awake. "Let someone else have a go, someone like Saria."

Hearing Saria's name, Mido couldn't refuse, as much as he wanted to tell them all to shut up.

"Alright, Saria your turn." He handed the lantern to her as she took to the centre floor. Taking a breath, she pondered over what to tell them, all eyes were fixed intently on the girl.

"It was a dark stormy night," she held the lantern close to her face stopping the light spreading across the room. "The wind howled loudly over a small woodland village as a group of kids sat huddled in their tree stump home. They spoke of a legend, a legend that had been passed down through generations of their village. The tale told of an awful beast that would roam the woods at the edge of the village, however, this wasn't any ordinary monster, it was rumoured to have the body of a boy, but the head of a wolfos." She paused to see the startled reactions of the group. "Rumour also told that anyone who dared enter the forbidden woods became the monster's next meal, leaving only the torn corpse which would twist into an ugly lifeless being. Children who peered into the woods could see the beings beckoning for them to come closer, those who dared, never returned."

Rela gulped as she gripped her sister's arm who was also a little scared.

"Sometimes," Saria continued the story. "The beast would journey into the village to surprise its victims by innocently knocking on their doors."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the Know-It-All Brothers' new wooden door, the girls and even some of the boys screamed in terror.

"I-I'll answer it." Rem cautiously opened the door to reveal Domi, the boy who ran the Kokiri shop.

"Sorry I'm late." He smiled that goofy smile typical of him. Domi was shorter than most of the Kokiri, dark brown hair sat in a clump on top of his chubby head.

"I-it's ok." Rem glanced around outside before shutting the door once more.

Clearing her throat, Saria waited for Domi to find a seat then carried on. "When the beast was lucky enough, a child would open their door…." She moved slowly backwards towards the table. "And then…the beast would…."

Everyone leaned forward eager to hear what the monster would do.

"Pounce!" Saria yelled, grabbing a deku nut at the same time, she tossed it on the floor causing the room to erupt in a series of screams. Placing the lantern on the table, she started laughing, the expressions on their faces were priceless.

"I think we better head home." Fado whispered, eyes darting anxiously between her friends.

"Y-yeah." Fala stood from the bed she'd been sitting on. "What if the….monster….gets us though!"

"It was just a story." Saria placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be going now even if none of you are." Opening the door, she stepped out into the now rainy night. Glancing up, she saw a brilliant flash of orange light in the sky. Something big was going on in the outside world, she wished she knew what it was.


	2. My Secret Place

A/N: Whoops, I hadn't meant for any of these chapters to directly connect but the ending of the last one does look like I would do that…you could class that first chapter as a prequel to my other fic Before the Legend, take a look if you want to see my take on the war.

Also, if anyone noticed the pattern I was following to name the Kokiri, you'll notice I messed up, ah well, I like the names now so it's all good.

* * *

_Come, we are waiting. Come to us, chosen one._

Saria shot up from her bed, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead, she shivered. This hadn't been the first time those mysterious voices had seeped into her dreams, she refused to tell anyone in case they thought she was crazy.

"Just who are you?" She whispered to herself not realising Nori was hovering over her head.

"I'm me, who are you?" He smirked as she glanced up frowning at him.

"Saria doesn't know anymore." She mumbled dropping into the third person talk Nori had been trying to get her out of.

Landing on her shoulder, he sighed. "Saria, don't start this again."

When they had been younger, all the Kokiri would do it sometimes, it was a child-like trait that the Deku Tree said they'd grow out of over the years. In Saria's case it was different, she was well known for being one of the most mature of the Kokiri but now and again, her mental state would switch extremely, usually when she was anxious or confused. Nori often wondered if she simply didn't want to be who she was anymore so would talk in third person as if not wanting to be someone else watching herself.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Saria smiled weakly, she honestly never realised when she started doing it. The words of the voices echoed quietly within her mind.

* * *

Stepping into the morning air, she shielded her eyes from the bright morning sun creeping up behind the trees. It was still early so not many Kokiri were out, only Somo cutting wood in the Training Centre. 

"Saria!" An upbeat voice called from her right. Turning to look in the voice's direction she saw Rela running towards her, large empty basket in hand. "I need to collect some things from the shop then get some stuff from the Lost Woods, but um…" Saria's story surfaced to the top of her thoughts. "…will you come with me?" The twin gave her friend a pleading expression, she really didn't want to go into the Lost Woods alone.

"Okay, I'll come." Saria chuckled a little. "My story getting to you?"

"No, of course not! I just wanted the company, Fala is still asleep so I thought I'd ask you." Rela semi lied, Fala was indeed still asleep but even if she hadn't been, Rela wouldn't have gone in without Saria, everyone knew she was the one most familiar with a large part of the dark woods. Slipping her arm through Saria's, Rela dragged her off to the small Kokiri shop.

Entering, they were greeted by Tila leaning on the shop counter chatting amicably to Domi. Unlike Fado or Saria, Tila knew she was pretty and would make sure everyone else knew it too. Long fiery red hair cascaded down her back as she turned to welcome them with dark piercing eyes. It was common knowledge that she had a bit of a thing for Mido, the Kokiri may not have known about romantic love but they were aware of crushes and liking people. It annoyed Tila that Mido liked Saria, annoyed her so much that you'd often find her throwing in snide remarks about Saria in conversation.

"Good morning girls." She smiled deviously at them. " Oh my, Saria you look awful today."

Saria couldn't deny that she did look worse than usual, lack of sleep along with voices in one's head does that to a person. Tila wasn't a bad person in Saria's eyes, she was just overly jealous of the attention Mido gave her.

"Don't make me put a bucket of water above your door again Tila." Rela mumbled to herself then laughed at the memory of the last time she'd managed to do it.

Placing a hand on Tila's shoulder, Saria shot her a bright smile. "Thank you for your concern Tila. I'm sorry Mido doesn't like you the way you want him to, if it makes you feel any better, I don't like him in that way,"

Shoving Saria out of the way, the redhead stormed out of the shop in a whirlwind of anger.

"You're too nice to her." Rela shook her head at Saria who shrugged.

"She's right," Domi agreed. "Someone needs to cool that girl off sometime. She goes around acting like she has a deku nut wedged somewhere uncomfortable most of the time."

Hearing the mention of deku nuts, Rela remembered what she'd come in for.

"Can you give me all the deku nuts and sticks I can get for this amount?" She asked piling the rupees she'd collected onto the counter.

"Uh sure, why do you want so many?" Domi turned towards the shelves to find the deku sticks and nuts. Placing them on the counter, her took her rupees.

"Protection! You never know what monsters could be in the Lost Woods." Rela explained as she swept her goods into the basket.

It was true that the Lost Woods was home to many dangerous animals, Saria herself had been chased by a wolfos more than once. A few of the Kokiri were being trained by the Great Deku Tree on how to tame a wolfos, none had gotten very far yet though.

Leaving the shop, they made their way up the cliff into the depths of the woods.

A series of strange noises welcomed them within the woods, whispers of lost spirits, creaking branches, scuttling bugs, all the sounds together could scare the weaker of heart.

"Right, I need some fresh fruit and flowers." Rela told a dazed Saria who didn't seem to be paying attention to the twin.

_Come, we're waiting, come to us._

The voices rang in Saria's head, were they real or only her memories?

"Saria?" Rela tugged on her sleeve.

"Fruit, flowers, ok then." Saria mumbled leading the way through the towering trees, the voices had faded away into the distance.

Arriving at a peaceful clearing, Rela scurried around gathering bunches of flowers for the village houses. Climbing a small tree, she reached up for some fruit while Saria stood staring blankly in the opposite direction.

_Come, you're close now, follow our voices._

Hearing the voices again, Saria walked in the direction they were coming from, totally ignoring her friend who was sat up in a tree knocking fruit down.

"Could you pick those up for me Saria?" Rela called from the tree. "Saria…?" She glanced down to find the girl had disappeared. Sliding down, she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her. Shakily turning, she instantly froze, irrational thoughts overtook her mind. There stood a mischievous Skullkid garbed in orange, its wooden face shadowed by its orange hood. Skullkids were perfectly harmless to Kokiri but the only thing on Rela's mind was Saria's story, "Aaaaahhh! Corpse!" Throwing a pile of deku nuts on the floor, she ran like a wolfos with its tail on fire out of the clearing screaming as loud as she possibly could.

Getting back to the village, Rela stopped for a breather, placing her hands on her knees, she took a deep breath.

"What the heck have you been doing?" Mido asked as he and Timo were passing by the cliff.

"Corpse! Saria! Disappeared!" Were the only things that came out of Rela's mouth.

"Catch your breath then explain." Timo instructed her.

"Saria disappeared then I saw a twisted corpse but I think I blinded it good and proper!" Rela shouted in their faces.

"You left Saria in there on her own!" Mido shrieked, all sorts of images flooding into his head. "Let's get some weapons, we're going in."

* * *

She travelled deeper and deeper into the darkness, the trees closed in around the girl as she followed the voices. Saria had never been this far into the Lost Woods before since she'd always been led back out into the village by the Deku Tree's magic. 

"Saria we should go back now." Nori anxiously squeaked, why wasn't she listening to him?

"Just a little further." Saria replied. Entering another pathway, she gasped when they arrived at a metal gate, two stone walls surrounded it on either side.

_If you are the one, you will pass the test._

The voices began to make her wonder what was going on. Before she could think anymore on it, a loud howl sounded behind her. Spinning around she came face-to-face with a snarling wolfos. Saliva dripped from its mouth as the animal zoned in on her, yellow eyes gleaming hungrily.

"A weapon would be good right now." Nori advised.

"I-I don't have anything." Saria backed up into a corner, a wolfos had never cornered her until now.

_Show us what you can do._

The wolfos lunged towards her, instead of doing nothing, Saria looked it directly in the eyes. The animal was inches away from her but she refused to look anywhere else. Her heart was pounding, her hands were sweating, she hoped this technique the Deku Tree taught her would work.

The wolfos stopped in its tracks, staring at the Kokiri it tilted its head to the side then leapt on her giving her face a giant lick. Pushing the thing off her, Saria gave it a gentle pat on the head, turning her head, she saw the gate disappear.

"What is this place?" She whispered while admiring the mossy covered walls. Making her way through the maze, she was amazed when they found two sets of old stone steps. Following the steps, the sight that awaited her at the top was breathtaking.

"I thought this was only a myth." Nori too, was awestruck at the place they'd found.

_Welcome to the Sacred Forest Meadow._

A large vine-covered mansion stood before them. A variety of plant life clung to the grey ancient walls as forest sprites and fireflies danced serenely around the area. A crumbled stairway was placed at the entrance disabling anyone from actually entering the building easily. A bare tree arched itself over the broken stairs creating an entrance for those who were able to climb it.

Spotting a flat round stump opposite the other tree, Saria took a seat on it, she finally had somewhere to play her ocarina without being disturbed. Placing the wooden instrument to her lips, she blew a tester note to get in the mood. Satisfied that she was ready, Saria closed her eyes and let the music take over. The joyful tune floated through the whole woods bringing every single being to life within. The sprites linked together in chains and swayed through the air, the Skullkids took out their flutes to accompany the music, even deku scrubs bounced up and down happier than they'd felt in a long time.

* * *

After half an hour of fussing in his house, Mido was finally ready to venture into the Lost Woods, an array of sticks, nuts and a wooden dagger at his side. Clambering up the vines towards the entrance, he stopped in his tracks when a smiling Saria exited the woods. 

"Saria! Where have you been?" He demanded to know, a little disappointed that he never got to be the hero.

"Nowhere." She grinned. She had decided to keep the meadow a secret from the others, it would be her special place to go play her music and be alone with her thoughts. Besides, none of the others were brave enough to try to find it.


	3. Leader Fever Part 1

A/N: It's been a while since I added another story to this fic so I figured I'd write something new. Since the next story seems to be turning out longer than I planned it will be in two parts so the chapter lengths remain even.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

A loud thud echoed throughout the house of the Know-It-All brothers as Timo slammed a dusty, almost torn apart book onto the table. The book was something the Deku Tree had presented to the Kokiris many years, perhaps even centuries, ago where they could document any important events or information they thought would be useful. Turning to a particular page, he frowned then sighed.

"Kokiri law states that any member of the village is within their rights to challenge the leader to his position. However, I can never seem to beat him..."

"Are you still going on about that?" Somo asked his brother, sitting up from his slumped position in the chair opposite the table. Something like this would happen every few weeks, Timo would insist he was going to take Mido's place as leader of the village, only to lose in whatever event he proposed as the challenge.

"Yes! And I'll keep 'going on' about it until I've claimed my rightful place as leader!" Closing the book, the elder brother made his way to the door, ready to go and find Mido. This time he had the perfect idea for a challenge where no one would be able to beat him.

Outside of the house, the youngest brother, Remo, sat chatting to Fala who had been admiring him practising in the training grounds most of the day. Noticing Timo stomping down the hill from their house, he knew his brother was on a mission once again, one he would more than likely end up regretting.

"Do you think he'll beat Mido this time?" Fala asked, not sure who she would have preferred as their leader. Sure, Mido was known to be a bit of a bully, selfish, arrogant and a lot of other things but he did have the qualities of a leader on top. He was brave, could command attention and usually knew what to do when things went wrong. On the other hand, Timo was probably the smartest Kokiri in the village, he was also brave when he needed to be and could use a variety of weapons.

"I'm not gonna hold my breath," Remo shook his head. "C'mon, let's go watch."

Mido sat obliviously by the small pond on the centre of the village. Staring into the clear water, he watched his reflection ripple back and forth as he wondered if anything interesting would happen that day. Hearing a voice calling his name, he turned his head, only to smirk when he saw who it was.

"Hi Timo, what's up?" He asked, already having a good idea of what the boy wanted.

"I was wondering if you were up for a little challenge, nothing big, just for leadership and all that," Timo replied, folding his arms as he tried to look intimidating.

"Hmm, I dunno," Mido got to his feet, standing slightly shorter than his challenger. "I'm fed up of beating you."

By now a small group of Kokiris had gathered around the boys, all eager to see what new challenges Timo had thought of.

"Rest assured, this time I will win," Timo held out his hand.

Thinking for a moment, Mido nodded and returned the handshake, he wasn't one to turn down a challenge.

"There'll be a series of challenges, each testing a different skill. This will prove once and for all who could be the best, all-round leader." Timo explained, breaking the handshake.

"You know, this could be kinda fun, I want in too!" A female voice shouted from the back of the crowd. Pushing her way forward, Rela walked up to the boys and smiled.

"What! You are joking, right?" Timo growled, he hated when people made a joke of his challenges.

"No, I want to be in the challenge too," the girl insisted. "Is that a problem?"

"You can't challenge me to be leader!" Mido took Timo's side. "You're a _girl_!"

"What's wrong with being a girl?" Another voice asked. Joining Rela at the front, Saria awaited an answer.

"N-nothing," Mido swallowed, why did Saria have to get involved too? "But a girl has never been the leader, it's unheard of in Kokiri tradition!"

"I don't remember reading that it was against the rules in that old book," Saria folded her arms, not about to back down when Mido was making up rules to suit himself.

"Whatever." He huffed. "It takes a real man to lead, no offence girls but you're just not built for such a task."

"A real man?" Saria raised an eyebrow. "So are you filling in until a 'real man' appears?"

There was a chorus of laughter from the group causing Mido to become quite flustered, his face turning redder the more he tried not to get angry. She always had that effect on him, there wasn't anyone else in the village who could get under his skin in such a way. She may not have been as strong as him but Mido knew after Timo, Saria could have been his biggest threat to leadership, if she wanted. His only choice was to let Rela compete and to prove that she wouldn't be able to keep up with the boys.

"Fine, you can compete," he pointed at Rela. "Don't come crying to me when you lose is all."

"I'm in too," Saria wanted to see if she could match up to the 'men' of the village. Of course, she had no intention of taking over if somehow she did manage to win, it would just be some harmless fun.

"Ugh ok, but no one else!" Mido yelled before the whole group could challenge him.

"Great, this is so exciting!" Rela grinned, going off to prepare for the first challenge.

* * *

Stepping into her house, Saria dove under the bed, looking for whatever equipment she could find that might come in useful during the challenges. Fluttering out of one of her pockets before he got squashed, her fairy landed on the floor in front of her as she continued to search.

"You know, what you said to Mido was a little mean," he finally said.

"Huh? I guess so..." Saria remembered the look on Mido's face when she'd insulted him. "But he can be so unreasonable a lot of the time, someone had to say something."

"Maybe so but did you see his expression?"

"Yeah," Saria felt a pang of guilt serge through her chest but quickly pushed it aside when her hand hovered over her slingshot. Slipping the weapon into her belt, she made sure she had a good supply of deku seeds and nuts before checking her ocarina was securely in one of her pockets. "Let's go, they're probably waiting for me."

Most of the village was waiting in the training grounds for the events to begin. Forming a crowd around Mido, Timo and Rela, they dragged Saria into the midst of the excitement the moment she arrived on the scene.

Putting a hand on her twin's shoulder, Fala gave her an anxious look. She knew Rela was quite capable of most things the boys could do but she was also known to be careless and would often jump into things without fully thinking them through. The quieter twin had had no idea her sister was even considering challenging Mido to be the leader, she did wonder whether the girl even wanted to take up the position, perhaps she was doing it more for entertainment purposes than anything else.

"I'll be alright," Rela assured her sister. She knew Fala worried a lot but there was no need, she didn't intend to put herself in any danger, well, nothing too dangerous anyway.

"Right, listen up!" Timo's voice shouted over the noise. "The first challenge will be a test of agility. Since a leader needs to be able to move fast whilst still being able to pay attention to what's around him-um, or her, I've created an obstacle course around the village," he pointed down the hill towards Mido's house where four flags were placed on the roof. "There are a number of flags placed throughout the course, to complete it successfully, you not only have to come first but also must collect all of your flags."

"Agility? Mido should be good at this," Rela smirked. "All that running from the big scary monsters in the woods."

"Very funny," Mido grit his teeth, making his way to the starting line. "Let's get on with this."

As soon as they were told to begin, all four darted down the hill towards the first flag.

Shoving his way into the lead, Mido knew exactly how he would get on to the roof of his house without having to take up valuable time clambering up the cliffs. Taking out a deku stick, he held it vertically in front of himself and just before reaching the house, shoved it into the ground, letting it propel him into the air before it snapped in two. Grasping at the edge of his roof, he pulled himself up to grab his flag then leapt off towards the next one.

Running close behind, Timo arrived at the house, wondering how he could get up to the flag. Climbing up the wall of vines seemed like the best option even though it would take him more time than he wanted to waste. Turning around, he got a shock when he saw Saria take a running jump, right for him!

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, using his shoulders as a spring board to get up to the roof.

Noticing his flag was near the edge of the roof, he rammed his whole body into the wall, causing the flag, as well as Rela's to tumble to the ground.

"Thanks!" Rela snatched up her flag before he had a chance to get ahead of her.

Arriving at the stepping stones, Mido saw the flags placed on the final stone, how easy it would be! Picking up his own flag, he smiled to himself when he got a brilliant idea. Quickly grabbing the other flags, he chucked them into the pond and dashed off in the direction of the shop, hoping no one had noticed what he'd just done.

Reaching the pond not far behind the mischievous current leader, Saria frowned when she saw the flags in the water. It wouldn't be a good idea to dive in and get soaking wet, surely that would slow her down for the rest of the race. Back tracking to the grass at the side of the water, she searched through the bushes in the hopes that a long enough vine would be amongst them.

Taking the chance to overtake Saria, Timo shrugged at the flags in the water before diving in without a second thought. He wasn't going to spend time attempting to stay dry when Mido was getting further and further ahead.

Also rushing past Saria, Rela hesitated for a moment before diving in to retrieve her own flag. However, it didn't bother the green-haired girl that she was falling so far behind. Finding what she had been looking for, she used the vine to guide the flag close enough for her to reach without needing to go for a little swim.

At the front of the runners, Mido rounded the back of the Twins' house then made his way onto the ramp which connected to Saria's house. Spotting the final flags at the end of the wooden bridge, he grinned, this would be his first victory. Hearing footsteps behind, he turned to see a soaking Timo and Rela slowly catching up to him.

"Don't think you've won yet!" Timo shouted. Picking up his pace, he winced when he lost his balance on the wet grass beneath his boots. His clothes had been dripping so much he hadn't realised how slippery the earth had become. Tumbling to the floor with a thud, he groaned, watching Rela and Saria run ahead.

Making her way onto the ramp before Saria, Rela was sure she could at least get second place. However, her wet clothes were becoming so heavy that the faster she tried to run the more they dragged her backwards. Stopping to take a breather, she regretted it when Saria squeezed past, hurrying up to the bridge faster than she'd seen the girl move in a long time.

He was certain he had won, there was no way anyone would catch him now, Mido sniggered collecting the last of his flags. He was just about to jump from the bridge when he saw Saria appear at the other end. Taking out her slingshot, she smiled at him before sending a barrage of seeds right in his direction.

"Ow! Hey, you cheater!" He yelled, jumping from the bridge to avoid the attack.

"Well, I'm not the only one," Saria grinned, diving down after him. "I'm sure those flags weren't in the water when we started."

"Not like you can prove it," Mido replied, dashing off towards the finish line. It was now a straight run to the finish, whoever got there first would win the challenge.

"Here they come!" Rem shouted from the top of the hill. He watched eagerly as Mido and Saria ran towards them, Mido slightly in the lead.

He was less than an inch in front of her, she had to take over him somehow, but how? Realising she didn't have any other option, Saria did the first thing that came to mind and leapt onto his back, sliding her arms around his neck she he couldn't throw her off.

"That won't work!" Mido huffed. He'd win this race, even if she was latched onto him!

Being pulled up the hill by a determined Mido, Saria was preparing to jump off and over his head just as they neared the finish. But what she wasn't expecting is what happened next. Instead of simply trying to run forward, Mido got close enough to the end then threw his whole body forward, causing them both to fall over. Stretching out an arm, he smiled as it went over the finish.

"The winner is Mido!" Somo announced, helping them to their feet.

"That was a cheap trick," Saria mumbled.

"And I bet you're jealous you didn't think of it," Mido grinned, watching his name being added to the scoreboard.

Rela managed to claim third place while a disappointed Timo squelched over the finish line in last place. The first challenge may have been over but there were plenty more opportunities for the losers to bring themselves up to first place. Would Mido be able to keep winning them all?


End file.
